Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, in which Citigroup holds 3.78 percent stake, said its first-half net profit surged nearly 150 percent from a year earlier to 6.37 billion yuan ($931 million) due to higher net interest income as well as increased net fee income.

In its interim report filed with the Shanghai stock exchange, the bank said operating revenue in the first half was 16.7 billion yuan, up from 11.6 billion from a year earlier.

Net interest income rose 38.9 percent to 15.52 billion yuan, while net fee income totaled 899.3 million yuan, up 99.06 percent.

At the end of June, the bank had outstanding loans of 621.67 billion yuan, up 12.83 percent from the end of 2007.

Earnings per share stood at 1.126 yuan for the first half, against 0.451 yuan a year earlier.

The lender said its non-performing loans (NPL) ratio at the end of June stood at 1.22 percent, down from 1.46 percent at the end of last year.

Capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was at 8.66 percent, down from 9.15 percent at the end of 2007, with core CAR at 4.95 percent, down from 5.01 percent.

The bank said it aims to achieve net profit of 10 billion yuan for the full year.